Electrical ignition device.



PATBNTBD AUG. 25, 1903.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23; 1901.

H0 MODEL.

' UNITED STATES Iatented August 25,

EVERETT W. BROOKS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRICAL IGNITION DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 737,202, dated August 25, 1903.

Application filed September 23, 1901. Serial No. 76.309. (No model.) 7

.To all whom it may concern.- I

Be it known that I, EVERETT W. BROOKS, of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and use-S ful Improvements in Electrical Ignition Devices, of which the followingis aspecification. This invention relates to improvements in lgnition devices, and refers more specifically.

to an electric sparking device.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a device which is extremely certain and reliable in its operation; to provide a construction wherein the sparking occurs in a chamber communicating with the interior of the cylinder through an open passa e, the arrangement of the parts being such that the sparking chamber is alternately exhausted and supplied with gas by the operation of the engine; to provide a construction particularly adapted for embodiment in connection with a rotary valve, and in general to provide an extremely simple, durable, and reliable construction in a device of the character referred to.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and more particularly.

a similar sectional View taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional views taken on lines 3 3 and 4 4, re spectively, of Fig. 1." I

The invention is shown in the present instance as embodied in connection with an engine employing a rotary valve having certain peculiar characteristics, said engine and valve being particularly described and set forth in Letters Patent No. 441,029, granted November 18, 1890, to W. S. Sharpneck. In the present instance the construction and arrangement of the engine and of v the rotary valve which controls the admission and exhaust are identical with that shown in said Sharpneck patent, with the exception only as to those-structural features which are modified to enable the electrical ignition device of the presentinvention to be substituted for' the incandescent tube-lighter described in said patent. It will therefore be entirely unnecessary todescribe in detail the construction of the valve'and engine, reference being made to said patent for such description.

' Referring to the drawing, 5 designates a rotary valve-body arranged within a suitable valve-casing 6, provided with inlet and outlet ports 7 i and 8, respectively, which communicate With the interior of the cylinder and which are adapted to be brought into register by the revolution of the valve controlling ports 9 and 10, respectively,'formed in the body of the valve. The valve 5 is rotated continuously, the gas being admitted at one part of the revolution and exhausted during another part of the revolution, or, in other Words, there is an explosion and corresponding exhaust for each revolution of the valve. I

Describing now more particularly the features of the present invention, 11 designates an annular groove formed in the valve-body at'a'point between the two portsand forming in conjunction with the casing of the valve a :closed annular chamber,-which communicates with the interior of the engine through a gaspassage 12, extending downwardly through .thecasing at a point in register with said l3 designates a cam progection formed or secured within the annular groove 11 and provided with a cam-surface 14, which extends eccentrically to the axis of the valve-body and terminates at its rear end, considered with reference to the direction of movement of the valve-body, in an abrupt drop or sh0ulder15, the opposite end of the cam being inclined gradually, so as to move into engagementwith a wiper smoothly.

16 designates a spring-pressedplunger, the lower end 17 of which constitutes a wiper adapted to cooperate with the cam 13 and forms in conjunction therewith a circuit-in terrupter or sparking device. The plunger 16 extends radially outward through the easing 6 and through a gland-like casing 6, threaded into the aperture 6 of the valvecasing, through which said plunger extends, so as to surround the plunger and close said aperture. In order to insulate the plunger,

from the engine, the plunger is arranged to extend through a tubular casing 18, which casing is in turn surrounded by an insulatingpacking 19, which separates it and insulates it from the gland-easing 6. The tubular casing 18 extends some distance above the upper end of the gland, and preferably also, although not necessarily, some distance below the lower end of the latter, as indicated clearly in the drawings. Upon that part of the tubular casing which projects above the gland is mounted a second tubular casing 20, which is, however, insulated from the inner tube 18 by an extension of the insulating-packing 19. The upper end of the plunger 16 terminates at a point within the casing 20 and is provided with an enlargement or head 21. The upper end of the casing 20 is closed by means of a screwplug 22, and between this screw-plug and the head of the plunger is interposed a coiled expansion-spring '23, which tends to force the plunger downwardly, the downward movement of the latter being limited by the engagement of its head with the upper end of the inner tubular casing 18, as indicated at 24. The screw-plug 22 is provided with a bindingscrew 25, with which is connected a conductor 26, which leads to any suitable source of electricity-as, for instance, to a battery. The opposite pole of the battery is connected with the engine by means of a conductor 27.

The operation of the apparatus constructed and arranged as described is probably entirely obvious, but may be briefly described as follows:

As the valve-body 5 revolves the cam 13 thereof (which forms one contact device or electrode of the circuit) is carried into engagement with the lower end of the plunger, which plunger wipes over the cam as the latter advances. As the cam passes out of engagement with the plunger the abrupt shoulder 15, forming the rear end of the cam, breaks contact with the end of the plunger abruptly, thereby causing a spark between said members. The annular chamber, within which the cam and cooperating end of the plunger are located, is in open communication with the interior of the engine, so that each time the engine receives a supply of gas the annular chamber is likewise charged, and the sparking between the wiper and cam obviously ignites the gas, which combustion is communicated to the charge in the cylinder through the passage 12. Inasmuch as the annular chamber remains in open communication with the interior of theengine-cylinder, it will be obvious that when the latter is exhausted the gases of combustion will likewise be exhausted from the annular chamber, and this will take place once during each revolution of the valve, so that the annular chamber will be alternately charged and ignited and the products of combustion exhausted therefrom. It will be understood from the foregoing that the ignition device is partieularly well adapted to a rotary valve, inasmuch as it may well be in part formed directly upon the valve-body. It will, however, be understood that in its broader sense the ignition device might be a structure entirely independent of the valve and arranged to operate synchronously and in proper relation to the charging and exhausting operations of an engine by any suitable mechanism.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the construction is of the utmost simplicity and involves the use of a minimum number of moving parts and, further, that the entire mechanism is accessible by simply withdrawing or screwing out the gland-casing and removing the end plug or cap from the latter. The parts are also so constructed as to be capable of renewal with the greatest facility and at a minimum expense, and in practical operation it has been found that the sparking is extremely uniform and certain and the operation of the engine therefore correspondingly reliable.

The wide range of movement of one sparking member relatively to the other and the fact that these members may be and are enibodied in relatively large and durable form obviously contribute to the certainty of operation and durability of the device.

IVhile I have herein shown what I deem to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, yet it will be understood that the details thereof maybe modified to a certain extent without departing from the spirit thereof, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the details of construction shown except to the extent that they are made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In a gas-engine, the combination with a valve-casing having inlet and outlet ports and an ignition-port leading to the cylinder, of an integral rotary valve-body mounted therein having longitudinally-separated ports adapt ed to register alternately with said inlet and exhaust ports, respectively, of the valve-casing, said valve-body having formed substan tially centrally therein and between the separated ports thereof an annular groove constituting, with the encircling wall of the surrounding casing, an ignition-chamber in constant communication with said ignition-port of the casing, a cam projection on one wall of said annular groove, an insulated springpressed plunger mounted to extend inwardly through the valve-casing and projecting at its inner end into said annular groove and into the path of said cam projection, and electrical connections connecting said plunger and cam projection respectively with opposite poles of a source of electricity, substantially as described.

2. In a gas-engine, the combination with a valve-casin g having longitudinally-separated inlet and outlet ports and an intermediate ignition-port leading to the cylinder, of a solid, integral, tapered rotary valve-body having a practically continuous gas-tight surface bear-= IIO ' ing in said casing from end to end, said valvebody having longitudinallyseparated ports adapted to register alternately with said inlet and exhaust ports, respectively, of the valvecasing, and having also formed substantially centrally therein an annular groove constituting, with the Wall of the casing surrounding the same, an ignition-chamber in constant communication with said ignition-port of the casing, a cam projection on the inner Wall of said ignition-chamber, an insulated springpressed plunger mounted to extend inwardly EVERETT W. "BRooKs. WVitnesses:

A. H. GRAvEs, FREDERICK O. Goonvvm. 

